Meg Mallon - Part 3 (2004 U.S. Open and the Solheim Cup)

Bruce Devlin 0:15

The 2004 U.S. Women's Open Championship at Orchards Golf Club, which is a Donald Ross course, by the way, in Massachusetts. And you beat a pretty good player there again by two, Annika Sornstam.

Meg Mallon 0:30

Correct. I was in the last group with Jen Rosales, and Jen had a three-shot lead over all of us. And the group in front of us was Kelly Robbins and Annika Sornstam. Now, you know, obviously I'm 41 years old. I've been in a lot of opens. I've drew a lot of experience from this. I love Jen Rosales. She had a talented game and everything, but I just knew that it just was going to be really hard for her. I just knew that. So I was focused on the two in front of me because those two have a tremendous US Open history. Kelly Robbins has so many top 10, she's played great in the US Open. So I know those two were the ones that you had to beat. And um the first hole, Jen Birdi's, she has a four shot lead. So she and I still and I'm still thinking, well, it's just a lot of golf left to play. And um after the first, I was so nervous on the first hole. I don't I know, I just had this nervous energy, like feeling like I had two seconds in an open prior to that. I did not want to let another open go. And that's just I was just really, really wound up tight and nervous. And um once I got the first hole under my belt and got all those nerves out, I just I just started playing some golf. And I mean, I did things like make a 60-foot putt and you know, or almost hole out two shots. I mean, I I just the whole day was just amazing. Um and Kelly and Annika were making birdies. I mean, you just don't do that in an open, by the way. You don't think that you're gonna go out and scorch the golf course, it just doesn't happen. But the three of us were just on all cylinders and just it was like birdie, birdie, birdie going one after another, and it's like we all knew we had to do that because the other one was gonna do it, right? So it was just that going back and forth, and the back nine was really fun. Um, and I remember standing on the 17th T, long wait again, US Open, and Annika Birdie's 17 and 18 right in front of me, and I I can watch each one. And she's looking back at me like, okay, you know, what do you got? kind of thing. So it was it was good. It was a you know really competitive, fun day, and just um my family, my brothers and sisters were there, um, and my parents were watching it on TV. So it was just a great um, a great win. And and I they asked me, you know, did you think at 41 you could win an event? And I'm like, of course I did. You know, it's funny, you know, it's a it I think you know, if 41 was considered old or whatever, it's just like, no, I've been through this and I'm ready for I was ready for it, and obviously I I thought I could win.

Bruce Devlin 3:17

So six birdies, no bogeys, yeah. I mean pretty pretty classic.

Mike Gonzalez 3:23

Monica Birdies, I think five of the last 12 holes, but uh boy, another closeout, 65. My goodness.

Meg Mallon 3:30

Yeah, yeah, that was that was great fun. I just uh you know, like I said, on all cylinders, uh even on I think the 14th hole, I hit a terrible chip and I had like a 25-footer for par and I made it. And at that point, you're just going, okay, uh this is my day. Yeah, yeah, it's gotta be me. But I still have to finish.

Bruce Devlin 3:50

Well, you had a pretty good payday that day, too, if I remember correctly.

Meg Mallon 3:54

I know.

Bruce Devlin 3:55

I know, wasn't that kind of yeah, five hundred and sixty thousand? That was nice. Oh oh, and you also set a record too that day. You set a record. Do you remember what the record was?

Meg Mallon 4:07

I think it's uh is it the lowest round on a Sunday?

Bruce Devlin 4:09

Uh there. Well, there was another one, too. You set a record for the most years between open wins.

Meg Mallon 4:18

Oh, correct.

Bruce Devlin 4:19

13 years. 13 years, yeah.

Meg Mallon 4:23

A lot of heartbreaks in between. I can tell you.

Bruce Devlin 4:25

Oh boy, isn't that the truth? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 4:27

20 24 putts in that round of 65. That is, that was the best final round by a winner in the 59-year history of the event. Yeah. Bogie free for the last 25 holes.

Bruce Devlin 4:41

Yeah, pretty good.

Meg Mallon 4:43

Yeah, I I um I came into that event um really uh my putting was terrible. I was missing three footers like terribly. And my coach was there with me in the beginning of the week, and so we're, you know, we're going, that's all we were doing was working on my putting because I just had lost my confidence in it. I don't, you know, I was doing cutting the ball, I was doing something. And so we worked on it, worked on it, worked on it, and then I tee off on the first hole of the open, and I as a par three, and I had pitched it up to about two and a half feet, and I missed the putt. And I was like, Oh, here we go.

Bruce Devlin 5:20

Yeah.

Meg Mallon 5:21

You know, and then I don't know what happened, but it just it turned around, and as each day went on, I I got more and more confidence. My putting got better and better, and then by Sunday it was just on fire. It was incredible.

Mike Gonzalez 5:35

Tell us about your putter, same one you used for a while, or had you changed a lot?

Meg Mallon 5:39

Uh so that was um, I I changed, but I I, you know, I but I really, really had to love it. Like I, you know, um I didn't change a lot, but I would change. I I actually that week was using an Odyssey putter out of the garage of the rep for for uh Callaway. Um and it was an older putter, it was a mallet Odyssey, and it was, you know, obviously magic that week, but yeah, so it doesn't matter, you know, it could be out of someone's garage or yeah, right, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 6:10

And then at some point they turn on you.

Meg Mallon 6:12

Uh they do. They do. Sometimes they have to go into a watery grave, as they say.

Mike Gonzalez 6:18

There you go, yeah. Well, you had a couple other wins in you that year. Uh uh. Following week. Yeah.

Bruce Devlin 6:26

Right after the open, you win again.

Meg Mallon 6:29

If flew to my second home country, I guess Canada.

Bruce Devlin 6:32

Yeah, there you go.

Meg Mallon 6:33

Yeah, one that was at Niagara Falls, actually. So that was pretty close to home. But um, yeah, I uh took that hot putter into Canada and it didn't stop. And um I just I really, really played well. Um and uh it was um I think we were going to the British Open after that, and then it's what you were talking about earlier, Bruce. If you won the Canadian, like I won the US Open, the Canadian, and then I guess the British was part of uh the men's kind of rota of opens to win. And um just fell flat on my face at the British Open, so I got a big disappointment from the media on that one. But um, yeah, so I'd never won back to back before, so that was fun to win you know, the US Open and the Canadian Open.

Mike Gonzalez 7:22

Yeah, and wire wire to wire, so you must have been really riding a hot streak.

Meg Mallon 7:27

Yeah, I I did, just full of confidence and just uh, you know, and more relaxed, let's put it that way, than playing at the open. The open's super intense.

Mike Gonzalez 7:38

One more at the Jamie Farr 2004. Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at Highlands Meadows Golf Club, and that was by one over Sari Peck and Carol's Karen Struppels.

Meg Mallon 7:51

Right, and um Cyri basically they had a street named after her there in Toledo. She had won there so much, so my it was a big upset to beat Cari that day, yeah.

Bruce Devlin 8:02

Yeah.

Meg Mallon 8:02

Um my whole family was there again, which was great for them to watch me. It was my last win. So it was uh kind of uh kind of closed the circle for me as far as being my first professional event I ever played in was Toledo. My last um professional win was in Toledo, and then um I decided to retire in Toledo. So that was my last professional event on the LPGA tour.

Mike Gonzalez 8:28

Yeah, this was your third win in five starts. So I would guess coming up off of this stretch, the thought that that might be your final win, you weren't even thinking about that at the time, were you?

Meg Mallon 8:40

No, then then the injuries kicked in. So the back uh back injuries and and all of that. So that that all started to kick in, and then um also uh family family tragedies as well. So I had a lot of factors going on um from 2005 on that that just really took me a my mind and and my really my spirit away from the game of golf.

Mike Gonzalez 9:06

Yeah, yeah, for sure. It'll do it. This has come up a lot where you know our listeners are all focused on the record and what's on paper in terms of win-win-win, second, whatever. What we all forget is that outside the ropes, life continues.

Meg Mallon 9:21

Life life happens, yes, it does. Yeah, it does. You know, I always say I have I come from a big, big family, big love, but big problems. And so, you know, when you have a a lot more people in your life, a lot more things happen, and and I wouldn't have it any other way, but it um, you know, it's it's hard when you when you start losing family members or having you know things like that happen.

Mike Gonzalez 9:44

So not fun. Not fun. Well, you you mentioned playing with Annika when she shot the 59. Uh you also played with Julie Inkster when she won the LPGA for the career grand slam, didn't you?

Meg Mallon 9:56

I did. I did. And great friend of mine, and uh cheering for her, and just um she was, you know, she and I had the same teacher too. So, Mike, so we always celebrated our stuff together. We were, you know, we're such good friends. I just talked to Julie yesterday, but um it was great to see her complete her career that way. She had just one of the best competitors I've ever played against.

Mike Gonzalez 10:21

And then you played with Dottie Pepper when she had the lowest score under par at a major.

Meg Mallon 10:27

And where was that?

Mike Gonzalez 10:29

I no idea.

Meg Mallon 10:33

I don't remember I don't remember.

Mike Gonzalez 10:35

It wasn't at the dinosaur, would it?

Meg Mallon 10:38

Oh yes. Well, yes, that could be. I bet probably so she had the lowest, yeah, she shot 19 under, I believe, um at at uh Dinoshore. That's where I shot 13 under. I lost by six shots. There you go.

Mike Gonzalez 10:50

Yeah, there you go. Right. Yeah. And then uh Kari Webb, you're playing with her when she earned enough points for the Hall of Fame.

Meg Mallon 10:57

Right, at like what, 27 or something? I mean, she was so young when um probably the youngest player to do it. Um, but yeah, incredible player.

Mike Gonzalez 11:07

In addition to your own great history, you've witnessed a lot of great history besides, haven't you?

Meg Mallon 11:11

I had I had the front seat for sure.

Mike Gonzalez 11:13

Yeah, yeah. Two in most career tour aces.

Meg Mallon 11:19

Eight. Well, eight on tour. I have fifteen overall, but eight on tour. Yeah. But I think Kathy Whitworth had a ridiculous amount of hole in ones, but is she the number one? I think she's number one. Yeah, she's number one. Yeah. I think she had 15 or 16.

Bruce Devlin 11:33

They had like At Wall on the men's tour. He had 31 of them. Oh, geez. Oh my goodness. That's crazy, isn't it? Yeah, that is crazy.

Mike Gonzalez 11:41

It is crazy. Well, you so you you you hung it up in 2010, but you played a little bit of Legends Tour, didn't you?

Meg Mallon 11:48

I did. I did. Um, you know, it was fun to see go out and be with your old friends, right? And play a little bit. But I was so torn, you know, when I retired, I knew I I wasn't gonna play much golf because my body just doesn't like it. I mean, my back just doesn't like that motion of the golf swing, and and it's no fun to be in pain. So I was really looking forward to playing tennis again when I got off when I retired, but then my my knees and my back didn't allow me to do it.

Bruce Devlin 12:14

So do that either. Yeah.

Meg Mallon 12:17

Um so anyway, yeah, so I it was fun to play a couple of events and then kind of steal a win out of out of one of those too, which was great. Yeah, it was a home game too. I got to sleep in my own bed and and uh take home the trophy, so that was nice.

Mike Gonzalez 12:32

Pretty nice. You know, if we look back over your major career, I know you you guys always like to talk about your wins and don't like to dwell on the others, you know, the uh seconds or thirds, but you had some nice finishes. You've alluded to some of those. I think I get the one uh uh uh including Dottie Pepper at uh at Mission Hills was in 1996 when you finished second in the um um at the Dinah Shore. I I'm not sure what it was called back then. Was that the Dynama?

Meg Mallon 12:58

We just call it Dinah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dina.

Mike Gonzalez 13:01

Everybody knows what you're talking about, right?

Meg Mallon 13:02

That's right.

Mike Gonzalez 13:03

Yeah, and then you know, U.S. Open, you mentioned uh a couple of seconds. Uh one was at the Broadmoor in 1995. Um that was when uh Onika won her first major there. I think you had a three-shot lead, didn't you, at some point?

Meg Mallon 13:17

I I I did. I actually had a five-shot lead over Annika, but I had a three shree-shot lead um going into the event and and or into the Sunday round.

Bruce Devlin 13:26

Yeah.

Meg Mallon 13:26

And um I remember I had I and I started out really well, just really solid, par the first couple holes, and then on number three I hit it right down the middle of the fairway. And there was as the week had gone on, there was uh like a raised pipe that kept coming up through the fairway. And so I landed right on top of that and I called for a ruling. Bruce will know this. Uh USGA comes out and says, Huh, no, we're yeah, you need to hit that. And I, you know, and so it it threw me off enough, and and I blame myself 100% for this. It threw me off enough that I got mad that I didn't get the ruling. I hit a bad shot, I made a bogey, I got mad about that. On the next hole, or the shortest hole in the golf course of par three, I make a triple. So I go bogey triple, and it's really all because I just got my I let my concentration go. I let it I let that get to me. And um and I still had a chance to win the event. I mean, at least tie on a con the last hole. I still I hung in there after that. I played even par from that point on, but just you know, that threw me off.

Bruce Devlin 14:34

That blew it, man.

Meg Mallon 14:35

Yeah, it really did. And uh, but that was all on me, you know, and um and that was disappointing. You know, it's always disappointing when you don't don't do your best and play your best and have your best focus for an event like that.

Mike Gonzalez 14:48

Yeah. You had another second uh course it was it was five behind Kari Webb. This was back in 2000 at the Merit Club, which I as I remember is was up in Libertyville, Illinois, wasn't it?

Meg Mallon 14:57

Yes. Yep. And uh Kari played great. I mean I I I was disappointed because I I three-potted four times on the last ten holes. So I didn't even give her I wanted to give her a run at least. You know, I knew it was she definitely was gonna win that open, but I at least wanted to make her think about it a little bit. So it was disappointing that I didn't bring my best golf to her on Sunday. But you know, it was always fun to be uh side by side with a with a great player that she was. I mean a great player.

Mike Gonzalez 15:28

You mentioned the British Open, wishing maybe that would have come along a little bit sooner in your career. Uh tell us a little bit about your Lynx golf experience. So some of the courses you really enjoyed playing over there.

Meg Mallon 15:39

Well, my my very first Lynx experience over there was well, it's actually, I think, is Burke Dale a Parkland, Bruce? It's Parkland or is that at Lynx?

Mike Gonzalez 15:47

Uh, it's a Lynx course. Yeah, we're all buying it. It's okay. It's probably links, yeah.

Meg Mallon 15:52

Is it okay? So very first competitive hole on Burke Dale. It's a it's a par five down wind, and then it's a par four into the wind. Well, the par five is reachable and the par four is not.

Mike Gonzalez 16:05

So typical.

Meg Mallon 16:06

So you're playing, yeah, you're playing the first hole, and I'm I'm bunker greenside and two. And I get in the bunker and I do a 360. I just go around. I I don't know where I can hit the I don't know where I can hit it. And I just start laughing. I'm like, hey, this is Lynx Golf. This is what everyone told me about. So I gotta figure this out. So here I am with a smile on my face going backwards out of a bunker, going, wow, this is this is what they talked about with Lynx Golf. So I I embraced it. I I I thought it was great. I the hardest part for me was if if if you got cold. Like I couldn't play cold, like chilled. So the preparation for those events was huge. You had to be prepared, um, you know, not only mentally, but just as far as what weather you were gonna get and what was coming your way. But Turnberry was my favorite, favorite course to play over there. I love Burkdale, but I just Turnberry I just think is just a gem. Um and then we got to play the old course, and I loved I love that as well. I thought that was fabulous. Just the whole thing around the old course is just the history and and how the course is built and just everything about it. So I really loved it. And again, I wish I had had that in younger, younger career of that rota of golf courses that would have been a treat to play all the time. And I think I really would have gotten used to it, you know, really gotten a handle for it.

Mike Gonzalez 17:39

The old course was uh Bruce's first experience traveling outside of uh Australia back as a young man, wasn't it?

Meg Mallon 17:46

How about that? That had to have been something.

Bruce Devlin 17:48

Yeah, that was something. The uh I think it was the I think it was the second day. This'll g you you'll be able to see what I'm talking about. We stood on the 11th T with a driver, with a driver in our hand and could not reach the green. And then we'd go to chip it up and chip it up on the green, and all of a sudden this R ⁇ A guy comes out and he puts a coin behind it before it blew back off the grid.

Meg Mallon 18:24

Oh, you could do that, no kidding.

Bruce Devlin 18:26

So, well, they did that for about an hour. They did it for about an hour and then realized this wasn't gonna work, so they had to cancel the whole day. But it blew about 40 miles an hour off that airbase right there, just north of uh St Andrews, and boy, what a what a day, what a day that was.

Meg Mallon 18:44

What a golf course, what an experience to play there.

Mike Gonzalez 18:47

Welcome to Lynx Golf, huh?

Meg Mallon 18:49

Yes, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 18:50

Well, let's talk Solheim Cup. Boy.

Meg Mallon 18:53

My favorite event.

Mike Gonzalez 18:55

Yeah, you know, it started uh right before you got started. I mean, you missed the first one when Kathy was the captain down Lake Nona. But uh you were there for a lot of that history there, weren't you?

Meg Mallon 19:07

Yeah, I was. Uh we were huge favorites in '92 going into um Damahoy. And I mean, it was a loaded team. Um, but we also knew, like the American media didn't know about the European players. We knew about them. We knew about, you know, Latte and Helen and Katrine Nielsmark and Laura Davies and um Dale Reed. I mean, these were players. See, they were good players, and we knew they were a good team, but they had just made us huge favorites and you know Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers or whatever on our team. And they just went out and beat us, and they won on my match. So I had all of Europe jumping up and down all over me on the putting team. I still have Katrine Nielsmark's ball. I never got to hand it back to her because she just took off and ran to celebrate with her team. Um and that was a sick feeling. I mean, that was that was where the Solim Cup grabbed me because I was like, I don't want to, I don't want to feel this way ever again. And I don't want to let my team down, and I don't want to let my country down. I mean, I you just get this overwhelming sense of of um loss and failure in that moment. And um I remember just Dottie and I are just sobbing in the locker room afterwards and and you know, thinking, you know, this is awful. I don't ever want to feel this way. And so um, you know, it was really um it was a fun bonding experience. I mean, you know, get to hang out with great players like Pat Bradley and Julie Yangster and Beth Daniel and Danielle and Maccapani and Dottie. I mean, we had it all, you know, lined up down there. But um, and you know, it because you're in an individual sport, you don't get to know these people very well. But when you're forced in team rooms and and uh hotels and things like that all together, it's just you really get to know each other, and that's what I really loved about it.

Mike Gonzalez 21:07

Yeah, I mean, by this point, uh players weren't caravanning down the highway without GPS and their uh you know their atlases uh trying to navigate the country. You guys were traveling, you know, probably individually and staying off on your own, and there's a lot of alone time.

Meg Mallon 21:23

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 21:23

Uh so this was a different experience for the person that's just normally playing the tour.

Meg Mallon 21:28

It was. And it went back to my basketball days and my team sport days and the you know the things that I love to do. Um, so it just uh I I it was a huge motivator for me to play well to get on that Solheim Cup team. And I I was on eight teams and I never was a pick. So you can see how that always motivated me. I I never wanted to be put in a position to be a pick. So I wanted to make sure I got on that team.

Mike Gonzalez 21:54

Bruce and I had the Bruce and I had the pleasure of talking to Kathy Whitworth about those. First two soul hand cups.

Bruce Devlin 22:01

Oh did that was fun. And of course, uh you know, she rest a soul.

Mike Gonzalez 22:06

She probably, I think probably told us that uh, you know, it was this one that she probably shouldn't have even gotten on the airplane because her mother was ill at the time.

Meg Mallon 22:14

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 22:14

Yeah. And uh yeah.

Meg Mallon 22:16

Yeah, that was sad not to have her as a you know full-time captain, although I still call her my first captain. But Alice Miller stepped in. She was the president of the organization at the time, so Alice Miller stepped in as our captain. So it was it was great to have her as well and such a calming influence. But it was it was tough for us not to have our you know our real leader in Kathy Whitworth.

Bruce Devlin 22:39

So then you after uh after that original loss, you guys uh won th three times in a row, 94, 6, and 98. Uh that had to be that was much more fun, wasn't it?

Meg Mallon 22:51

That was a lot of fun. That that was more like it. That's that's uh it's a lot more fun to celebrate with your team and your country and you know wave the American flag around and and uh have that experience. It was it was great fun uh to do that and um be a part of of uh those teams and and you know, even the losses we still had fun. Everyone had a big party afterwards with both teams. We all got together and and partied together and and just you know had a great experience with that. So I was all about that, the celebrating. I loved it.

Bruce Devlin 23:25

Yeah, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 23:25

94 was at the Green Briar, of course. Joanne Carner was the captain there, and then uh Judy Rankin captained the next two wins, uh, first at uh St. Pierre Hotel and Country Club, and then you went to Muirfield Village near home. Uh Judy Rankin and Pian Elson was the opposing captain. Uh so three victories in a row, and then you go to Loch Lomond.

Meg Mallon 23:47

Yeah, Scotland wasn't very good luck for us. We uh uh the the weather was so bad in Scotland that eleven people broke their ankles in the gallery that week. The mud was this this thick.

Bruce Devlin 24:03

Wow. Oh boy.

Meg Mallon 24:05

Eleven people. It was it I was playing with Laura Davies or against Laura Davies, and we're walking off a T-Box, and the next thing I know, Laura's going down like a slide off of a swing set, straight down to the ground, all the way down the tea box, and she was mud head to toe. Oh boy. It was so bad.

Mike Gonzalez 24:26

You got a win at interlocking in 2002. You you go back and um and and now probably because on 9-11 you kind of went to the odd years, didn't you?

Meg Mallon 24:34

We did, yeah. We had to we had to go back to back um to stay away from the Ryder Cup, and uh you know, ironically, we had to do it again this this time around because of the pandemic. We have to go back to back again um in uh 23 and 24. So they took it to the We're always making adjustments for those men, I'll tell you. Yeah, I know, isn't that terrible?

Mike Gonzalez 24:57

Well, you finished you finished on a high because the the last competition in the Solheim Cup, at least as a player, was in 2005 when you won a crooked stick with Nancy Lopez at the helm as captain.

Meg Mallon 25:09

Yeah, yeah, that was that was awesome. Oh, she was she was such a fun captain, you know. Of course you'd know Nancy would get fully involved in it and and um you know cry every time she talked to us. And it was just you know, she her heart and soul were was in that event, and you could not not play hard for Nancy, you know. And we had a real veteran team then too. I mean, it was it was we were we were ready to play and and um yeah, it was uh we it was great fun. Uh Crooked Stick was a good venue for for a uh you know um I didn't love it for the US Open, but it was really good for a match play event because it's a lot of risk reward um there. So it was it was a fun event to play. And then so talk about full circle moments. So my very first Solheim Cup, we lose on my match. My very last Solheim Cup, we win on my match. So I was really, really lucky to have those experiences to be intense, you know, have a I had uh I had to make a five-footer to to basically win the Solheim Cup. And um you talk about nerves and intensity and focus and everything over that putt. That was uh that was a big moment for me.

Bruce Devlin 26:27

So you got the captain uh in 2013, unfortunately, unfortunately, a loss. We got wiped Colorado Golf Club, huh?

Meg Mallon 26:37

Yeah, Colorado Golf Club, which is a course that um my teacher, Mike McGetrick, was um part of building that golf course. So uh it was great to, you know, I I had seen that course be, you know, from the first hole on be built, and um so it was a good connection for me to have to be the captain of that particular event at that golf course and have that connection with Mike and um you know representing your country, there's nothing like it. And um, you know, to be a captain of a team was a very special and an honor to be able to do. I wish we had played better, I wish we had won, but um, I'll never forget the experience of uh being a part of that.

Mike Gonzalez 27:18

Well, let's talk about some of the other acclaim that Meg Mellon has uh won. I mean, uh gee, whiz a long list. That's a list, isn't it? Let you read this, Bruce.

Bruce Devlin 27:28

I mean, holy smokes golf golf writers and golf digest in uh 1991, two awards, most improved player and female player of the year. 96, Ohio State Athletic Hall of Fame. 99, the uh Moosey Mount William and Mousey Powell Award from the LPGA. And then in uh 2000, they're one of the top 50 LPGA players at the 50th anniversary of the LPGA. Oh, and we gotta keep going. Michigan Golf. Michigan Golf Hall of Fame, Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, 2008, and then the uh cream on the top, 2017 World Golf Hall of Fame.

Meg Mallon 28:17

Yeah.

Bruce Devlin 28:18

That had to be some sort of thrill for you.

Meg Mallon 28:20

It really was. Um, I didn't expect that. I you know, I didn't know what the criteria was. I just, you know, you're so focused on the LPGA Hall of Fame, and I knew I fell short of that, and um, you know, and I still agree with how we do it. I think um, you know, playing your way into a Hall of Fame is is uh is a way to do it, but I understand why, you know, you have to do a voting system as well, and the World Golf Hall of Fame does a pretty good job of that. Um but I just yeah, I got that call from our commissioner Mike Wan at the time, and I I made him repeat it because I said, Excuse Excuse me?

Bruce Devlin 28:57

Say it again, please.

Meg Mallon 29:00

Um I thought I was in trouble when he called, so I was kind of glad to to hear I wasn't. But um yeah, so that was a wonderful phone call and a wonderful moment to be able to to celebrate with my family being there with me as well. My my parents um had passed by then, so you know that was hard not having them there, but um but my brothers and sisters being there was was awesome.

Bruce Devlin 29:26

That was great.

Meg Mallon 29:26

And to go in with Lorena, who's one of my favorite people of all time. Uh, and Davis Love, who I'd gotten to know in the mixed team over the years, who's a fabulous guy. Ian Woozy was wonderful. I loved meeting Woozie and his family, and he's such a he's such a fun, lovely fellow. And so it was a good group of us that went in together and really enjoyed the week together.

Mike Gonzalez 29:49

And I said it at the top, Meg, but uh it was obvious to me watching your speech that uh you gave that a lot of thought and did a wonderful job with it.

Meg Mallon 29:59

No, thank you. I I appreciate that. I I did actually. I I um I I spent months like writing things down on paper, just like I didn't want to forget stuff. I didn't want to forget people. I just, you know, people everyone, my family and my friends were such a big part of my career and my life, and I didn't want that to go unnoticed or not said. And so throughout, you know, I just write things down. Um and then, you know, was able to to put it together. But I I this was so funny. So the I come in and I have got this speech fully prepared that I've been preparing for months, and I come in and Woozy, Lorena, and Davis are all writing things down for three days. They had not the three of them, not one of them had written their speech yet until they got there. It was the funniest thing. I was getting nervous for them because I'm like, what are you guys doing? And and uh I, you know, and I kept telling Ian how nervous I was, you know, about doing the speech. And so I finally I get my I go first and I sit down and he hits me and he goes, I thought you said you were nervous. I said, I was nervous, but I've been preparing them for this for for months, and you guys have been writing your notes down the last two days. That was so funny.

Mike Gonzalez 31:19

I'm sure you found this playing professionally. What overcomes nerves is preparation.

Meg Mallon 31:24

Preparation, that's right.

Mike Gonzalez 31:26

And I told Bruce uh uh you know a few days ago, I said it was obvious you prepared, you gave it a lot of thought, you touched all the bases, your your your delivery was outstanding. It was just a really, really well done speech.

Meg Mallon 31:38

I appreciate that. Thank you. That that it took a lot out of me, I have to say. Because I don't like doing that. I I hate giving speeches. I hate standing up and talking about myself. I'd rather do a QA like this in a conversation, much more comfortable in that. But just standing up in front of people is not my favorite thing to do.

Bruce Devlin 31:57

Well, well, there's one other thing that I'd like to touch on, and that is uh you mentioned very, very early in your career about going to school at Lady of Mercy. And now, now you uh have a pro am there uh as a fundraiser, which is very, very nice.

Meg Mallon 32:15

We we did it um for 20 years, and um we started the Meg Mallon uh scholarship uh fund, which I'm very proud of. It's um you know it's a four-year uh all-girls uh Catholic high school and it draws from all areas of uh the Detroit area. And um sometimes, you know, the girls are uh great students or even good athletes, but um they can't afford to stay there. So my scholarship makes sure that they can they're paid for to get to stay at school there. So I'm really proud of that because it really helps young girls, you know, be able to continue their great education and and move on without worrying about the financial side of it. And um, yeah, I I love giving back to my high school. It it was a huge um turning point for me in my life as a young girl to go there. And um I'll you know I'll always appreciate that and and help in any way I can with the school. So yeah, it it's uh it's a fun thing to be able to do.

Mike Gonzalez 33:16

So what are the things keep you busy nowadays?

Meg Mallon 33:20

Um, you know, it's funny. They always say in retirement, what do you do? Well, I just say I'm not bored. I it's it's um I enjoy it. I I finally get to spend more time with my family. I have uh two homes, one in northern Michigan, one in southern Florida. And um just I'm just busy. I I'm I'm busy but uh busy enough to where I'm really enjoying my life. And um, you know, I uh the tour and and all of that took an awful lot out of me, especially physically. I just had knee replacement surgery last fall, which uh went really well. So I'm really happy to say that that I feel physically so much better than I have in a long time. Um so I'm looking forward to being able to do more things. Um uh with that being said, hopefully the other knee holds up. Well, you know, the body's the body. It it it's it's wear and tear was a lot on tour, and it got me for sure.

Bruce Devlin 34:14

Yeah. So we have so we can't let you go without asking you three questions. We ask all our guests, we ask all our guests three questions, and I'm gonna let I'm gonna let Mike ask you the first question.

Meg Mallon 34:28

I'm worried with the look on your face, Bruce. I'm worried about these three questions.

Mike Gonzalez 34:32

Well, I'm so used to Bruce going first and I'm a little flustered, but uh uh the first one is this uh let's take you back to the time when you're just going on tour. But you know then what you know now. What would you have done differently?

Meg Mallon 34:50

I would have um been more uh confident, more brave and bold, um, not worry about the little things that that tie you up so much. Um I would have as much as I loved on my mother, I would have loved on her more. Um and you know, of course, you know, my siblings as well. But you know, it's funny when people say, Oh, I have no regrets, I thought you're full of it. There's all sorts of regrets. There's the things you can go back and say I could do so much better.

Bruce Devlin 35:31

Okay, that's the answer to number one. Number two is I'm gonna give you a mulligan. Where would you take it? One mulligan.

Meg Mallon 35:45

You know, there's um do you need more than one? Yeah, no, yeah, I'm not between two. I'm not between two because that that had I missed at Youngstown to you know allow three more people in the playoff, that would have been another win. But probably the the the t-shot uh at the Broadmoor that I caused the triple. I would have had another open. So most likely. But you know, that's fate. Was that yeah, was that I mean, was that Annika's time? Possibly. But I certainly kind of handed it to her. So, you know, with that with that mental lapse. Yeah. Probably that shot at the Raw more. Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 36:29

Yeah, that's a couple of meaningful shots. Uh so last question.

Meg Mallon 36:34

I like that Mulligan.

Mike Gonzalez 36:35

How would Meg Mellon like to be remembered?

Meg Mallon 36:39

Oh um, well, hopefully it's just a a a good person that um, you know, was I I feel lucky that I was able to do what I did for a living, especially as a girl, a young girl, um, and do what, you know, God given talents I was given to be able to do that as a living. And uh hope people appreciate that. Um you know, and that I uh you know, and and did it in a way that showed how much I loved playing the game and competing. So that would probably it.

Bruce Devlin 37:20

We want to just say to you that uh we loved having you as a guest. It's been a lot of fun and thank you guys so much. We thank you for your time and for all your stories, and uh again, it was great having you, Mike.

Meg Mallon 37:34

Oh, you two are terrific, and thanks for doing what you're doing again. This is so important, and I hope you can get you know all of the living Hall of Famers and and and uh major champions. That would be amazing.

Mike Gonzalez 37:46

Well, we sure hope that long after we're all gone, we've got little girls, little boys listening to these stories 50 years from now saying, Oh, now I know who Meg Mellon was.

Meg Mallon 37:56

That's important.

Mike Gonzalez 37:57

Yeah, well, thanks for being with us.

Meg Mallon 37:59

All right, BML U2, thanks so much.

Mike Gonzalez 38:02

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. That's when McCadrey. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we cheat up again for the good of the game.